Concrete Removal in Los Angeles, CA

Concrete removal is the first step in most yard and hardscape projects in Los Angeles: a new driveway, a pool deck, a drought-tolerant garden in place of a cracked patio, or a slab cleared for an ADU. We break out the concrete, separate it from soil and rebar, haul it to a recycler and leave the ground graded for whoever comes next. Homeowners, landscapers and builders all call us for this, from a single walkway to a whole backyard of paving.

Signs a slab should come out rather than be patched

• Cracks wide enough to catch a heel, or one side of a crack sitting higher than the other
• Tree roots lifting panels so the surface rocks or trips people
• Water flowing toward the house instead of to the street or a drain
• A slab that has sunk away from the garage, steps or foundation
• Old patios that block a new layout, a pool or an addition

Patching makes sense when the slab is sound and the damage is local. When the problem is the base or the roots, new concrete over old only buys time.

How we take it out

Thin flatwork like patios and walks is usually broken with a skid steer breaker or jackhammers and loaded by machine. Thicker driveways and slabs with heavy rebar may need saw cuts first so we can remove sections without cracking what stays, such as the city sidewalk, a neighbor's driveway or a garage floor. Where a slab meets the house, we saw-cut a clean line instead of hammering against the foundation.

Reinforcing steel and wire mesh are cut and separated. Broken concrete goes to a recycler, where it is crushed into base material. Within the city of Los Angeles, mixed demolition debris must go to City-certified processing facilities under the Citywide Construction and Demolition Waste Recycling Ordinance, and clean concrete loads are the easiest of all to recycle.

The parkway and the street

Many Los Angeles driveways cross a parkway and public sidewalk before reaching the curb. That apron and sidewalk are in the public right-of-way, and the Bureau of Engineering, not LADBS, permits work there. Its permit manual handles driveway construction, modification and replacement through an A-Permit, and an abandoned driveway has to be closed with full-height curb and sidewalk. If your project includes the apron or the public sidewalk, we tell you up front so the right permit is in place before any saw touches it.

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What you get at the end

A clean, rough-graded area at the depth your next contractor needs: a few inches below finished grade for new concrete, deeper for pavers on a base, or back to native soil for planting. We remove loose debris, rake it out and leave the edges of anything that stays straight and undamaged. Call (213) 377-6198 with photos of the area and rough measurements and we can usually give a ballpark on the first call.